Thursday, September 27, 2007

Top 10 Most Expensive Markets For “Average Home” in 2007

September 26th, 2007 — 2008 Real Estate Predictions, Top 10 Real Estate Lists, 2007 Real Estate Forecast, Appreciation

If you are looking to buy the average home in the United States, these are the most expensive markets. The average home in this survey by Caldwell Banker is 2,200 square feet with 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, a family room, and a 2 car garage.

Looking over the list, California has 8 of the top 10 most expensive towns for the average home which is not a surprise with the fantastic run up in property values in 2007. Also on the list are Greenwich, Connecticut and Boston, Massachusetts in the northeast.

This has to account for the attention placed on housing out in California. When the average person is having to dig up nearly a million to get into a home housing becomes the leading discussion in the household. And if you held onto a home during the run-up you have a great deal of your wealth tied up in the real estate market.

Top 10 Most Expensive Markets For “Average Home”

Beverly Hills, Calif. $2,206,883
Greenwich, Conn. $2,018,750
La Jolla, Calif. $1,800,000
Santa Monica, Calif. $1,785,000
Palo Alto, Calif. $1,677,000
Newport Beach, Calif. $1,617,500
Santa Barbara, Calif. $1,599,667
San Mateo, Calif. $1,498,023
San Francisco, Calif. $1,451,250
Boston, Mass. $1,381,250

Low Commission Brokerage Dies In the Slump

September 27th, 2007 — Real Estate

Foxtons was one of the early innovators in the low commission real estate model and focused on the high priced New Jersey bedroom communities. They offered a 2 percent commission to sellers and their agents were on salary, not commission.

The company struggled even in the heart of the boom as other agents did not want to show their homes as being commission based their was very little money for them. Once the market broke, so did Foxtons and now the company is looking at bankruptcy and cutting most of it’s staff.

While it is a shame for the employees that are losing their positions, it also is a testament to the innovative spirit in America. While the real estate sales model is fairly stable, innovators are still able to work and try and build a better mousetrap. Their will be many failures and near misses along the way, but that innate American sense of we can find a better way leads to innovation for the whole industry over time.

So, goodbye Foxtons, but thanks for trying something new and different.

It will lay off 350 of its 380 workers and intends to keep 4,400 listings on the market.
Senior vice president John Blomquist tells The Asbury Park Press the company no longer has the liquidity to operate as a going concern.
Foxtons was founded in 1999 on the principle that consumers shouldn’t pay a 6 percent commission. Agents were paid salaries and customers were charged 2 percent. The company was sold in 2004 and eventually commissions were raised to motivate agents to show Foxtons’ homes. via Newsday.com

Utah County Notice of Defaults 9/27/2007

632 W 200 S Lindon
318 E 400 N Orem
550 W 100 N Payson
2452 E 1370 S Spanish Fork
338 N 300 E Springville
409 S 400 E Springville

Salt Lake County Notice of Defaults 9/27/2007

388 W 13130 S Draper
4085 W 5580 S Kearns
4249 W 5500 S Salt Lake City
6143 S Cirrus Cir Salt Lake City
1271 E College St Salt Lake City
3348 S Santa Rosa Dr Salt Lake City
3304 W 5735 S Taylorsville
6680 S Leichen Ct West Jordan
3068 W 9240 S West Jordan

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

After Fed Rate Cuts, Mortgage Rates Continue To Rise

September 26th, 2007 — Real Estate

The world markets celebrated last week when the Federal Reserve lowered the Federal Funds rate a half percent. All but those guys at the 10 year bond market. They got nervous thinking the rate cut was too much and could strengthen their arch nemesis INFLATION.

So to combat evil INFLATION, the interest rates for a 30 year mortgage has jumped .23 percent over the past week thus negating any of the benefit for homeowners. So what does this mean?

To me it means the rising interest rate on fixed loans will make it harder for homeowners looking to buy or refinance to qualify for a new loan. This will put greater pressure on sales and pricing and keep housing sales soft. Of course, their are many other factors affecting the markets such as the weak dollar and countries shifting their savings to Euro’s instead of dollars. All of these macro effects are hurting the credit markets in the United States and thus the ability for homeowners to borrow.

The Fed last week sliced a sharp 0.5 percentage points off of the key federal-funds rate, which banks charge each other for overnight loans.
But while cutting the federal-funds rate directly impacts short-term borrowing like credit-card debt, it doesn’t automatically affect long-term loans like mortgages.
Instead, banks generally base mortgage rates on 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yields, which have risen 0.23 percentage points in recent days. McBride said Treasury yields have gone up because some bond investors fear the Fed cut short-term rates too much, risking inflation.
Inflation is bad news for mortgage investors because they agree to lend money at fixed rates for up to 30 years. So, unexpected inflation can ruin these investors’ returns. “Inflation is the worst enemy of investors that buy long-term (debts),” McBride said. via the BostonHerald.com.

Real Estate’s Big One Crash - Lennar Down 35 Percent and Now Finally Cutting Staffing

September 26th, 2007 — 2008 Real Estate Predictions


The major homebuilders all look like they felt that they could accelerate through the housing crash and gain market share from their competitors. If all the others had pulled back and 1 went through the wreck (to use a NASCAR analogy) that company might have done well.

Instead we are looking at all of the home builders putting the pedal to the metal and now what may have been a small crash is looking like “The Big One” as they all wanted to be heroes.The Big One for those who do not know is a big crash at a super speedway that collects all of the competitors who are racing in a tight pack. Since no one wants to back off when things get rough, they all have their cars beat up or destroyed.

So to keep this racing analogy going, we are going to have to red flag the race (park all the cars) until the track can get cleaned up. And the Lennar car driven by Stuart Miller looks like a total wreck.

The national homebuilder Lennar came out with their third quarter earnings report and the results were ugly. Of course, anyone who can spell real estate was expecting this as the market is saturated now that the speculators have gone home and the buyers are nervous.

But I guess that you do not know how to spell real estate if you are an executive at Lennar. It took an earnings report like this for them to take the foot off the gas pedal and start cutting back on expenses and staffing.

Lennar, whose sales for the period fell 44 percent, also said it had slashed jobs by about 35 percent and that further cuts would be necessary.
The loss for the third quarter ended on Aug. 31 was $513.9 million, or $3.25 a share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $206.7 million, or $1.30 per share.
Wall Street analysts on average had expected a loss of 55 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.
“Our third-quarter results on their face are disappointing. Nevertheless, they’re part of a program to reflect the harsh realities of a very difficult market condition,” Lennar Chief Executive Stuart Miller said in a conference call with analysts. via Reuters

Monday, September 24, 2007

Salt Lake County Notice Defaults 9/24/2007

958 E Draper Pkwy Draper
272 E Broadleaf Cir Draper
289 E Manti Dr Draper
14954 S Manilla Dr Draper
5493 S 670 W Murray
1230 S Montgomery St Salt Lake City
2103 S Broadmoor St Salt Lake City
247 S 700 E 51 Salt Lake City
10321 Temple View Cir South Jordan
1372 W Atherton Dr Taylorsville
5567 S Ridgecrest Dr Taylorsville
6481 S Cyclamen Way West Jordan

Utah County Notice of Defaults 9/24/2007

1616 S 450 W Lehi
4291 N 900 W Pleasant Grove
326 E Stadium Ave Provo
933 S 200 West Blvd Provo
603 N 970 W Provo
3341 N Cottonwood Ln Provo
551 S 1600 E Spanish Fork
886 N 600 E Springville

Friday, September 21, 2007

BYU Tailgate Party Open House this Saturday Sep. 22

Hey friends, it's the weekend again and that means that it is game day! I am actually going to throw a tail gate BBQ/Open House Saturday morning in Provo from 9:30 am until 12:30 pm. Kickoff for the game is at 1:00. The address of the open house/Tail gate BBQ is 1412 E 580 S in Provo. The food will be prepared by the Jimmy Rex Team and you can see one of my great listings while you get ready for the football game. Go ahead and invite anyone you want, the more people the better!
Food provided: Donuts, Hamburgers, Hot dogs, Drinks, Chips, whatever else looks good when I go shopping!

Utah County Notice of Default 9/21/2007

885 S 630 W Payson
1573 N 1975 W Lehi
731 S Blue Ridge Cir Alpine
2163 W 325 S Mapleton
440 S 900 E Provo
338 N 300 E Springville
4017 W Valderrama St Cedar Hills
975 N 600 E Orem
2357 W 800 N Provo

Salt Lake County Notice of Defaults 9/21/2007

14021 S 2055 W Bluffdale
5391 Emmeline Dr Herriman
7436 W Copperview Dr Magna
2818 S Breeze Dr Magna
3473 W 12600 S Riverton
1401 S 1000 E Salt Lake City
48 S Jeremy St Salt Lake City
5034 W 5320 S Salt Lake City
1771 S Main St Salt Lake City
10205 Mount View Dr Sandy
11418 S 3420 W South Jordan
11370 Brook N Lance South Jordan
4904 W Wood Ranch Dr South Jordan
2212 W Red Robin Rd West Valley
6156 W Harker Cir West Valley

Strange Buyer Problems - At Least You Are Not Martha Stewart

September 21st, 2007 — Celebrity Real Estate

Every real estate agent has the clients that just blow them away, and not for the right reasons. Wierd eccentric behavior that confounds all expectations and the willingness at the drop of a hat to sue are the bane of most agents existance.

Well, there is an inmate in the South Carolina penal system who takes this all to the next level. He is more than willing to sue celebrities over the most amazing things even when he was in jail when the supposed incident occurred. Today his target is Martha Stewart who was trying to sell her Westport home.

In a two-page, handwritten lawsuit Riches seeks more than 3 million dollars in damages from Stewart. Riches says he will donate any damages he collects to television cook Rachael Ray.
Riches claims he tried to buy Stewart’s estate in Westport earlier this year for the three-point five million dollars in pennies.
He claims the real estate listing for the property falsely claimed it was painted with Dutch Boy paint. The suit also states that while touring the property (although records indicate he would have been in prison at the time) Riches contracted poison ivy, was scratched by pricker bushes and fell in a groundhog hole.
Riches also claims he saw Stewart’s turkeys playing football with Michael Vick’s jerseys and that the birds attacked him. WTNH.com

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Utah County Notice of Defaults 9-20-07

207 E 300 S Provo UT 84606
5422 W 10180 N Highland UT 84003

Sep. 20th 2007 Notice of Defaults SLC

2046 W 12510 S Riverton UT 84065
1233 S Redwood Dr Salt Lake City UT 84104
3985 S 4050 W West Valley UT 84120
1084 W California Ave Salt Lake City UT 84104
1774 Sage Hollow Dr Draper UT 84020
381 E High Berry Ln Draper UT 84020
6294 W King Valley Ln West Valley UT 84128
12803 S Ellerbeck Ln Draper UT 84020
14218 S Canyon Vine Cv Draper UT 84020
3677 S 700 E Salt Lake City UT 84106
3362 S Diamond Ridge Cir West Valley UT 84128
6963 S Firefox Cir West Jordan UT 84084
6302 W 3100 S West Valley UT 84128
7634 Sunrise Pl W West Jordan UT 84084
11965 Hidden Valley Rd Sandy UT 84092
1888 E 7130 S UT 84121
445 N 1300 W Salt Lake City UT 84116
130 W State Hwy Cprtn Copperton UT 84006
2952 S 8950 W Magna UT 84044
13852 S April Moon Cv Herriman UT 84096
784 E Woodshire Cir Murray UT 84107

Fed Interest Rate Cut on Housing - Who Will It Benefit

September 19th, 2007 — Real Estate
Thankfully the Federal Reserve cut the prime interest rate, but to whom will these benefits help? That is the question I have been getting and hearing around the web.
First of all, it should give the borrower with an adjustable rate mortgage a break. We had previously covered the bubble of adjustable rate mortgages that are expected month by month to reset:
Adjustable Rate Loan Resets For 2007–2008Month Millions
January-07 22
February-07 25
March-07 35
April-07 37
May-07 36
June-07 42
July-07 43
August-07 52
September-07 58
October-07 55
November-07 52
December-07 58
January-08 80
February-08 88
March-08 110
April-08 92
May-08 76
June-08 75
July-08 50
August-08 35
September-08 26
October-08 20
November-08 15
December-08 17
and in the next 6 months we should experience the peak. With foreclosures hitting record highs in August and more than double the resets expected in March of next year, any sort of interest rate relief should have powerful repercussions across the mortgage industry.
Fixed mortgages should come down a little but they will move slowly. What these homeowners should see are a lowering of interest rates on their credit cards freeing up more money in the family budgets.
The other benefit is that the credit market should free up a bit. More money available in the credit markets may allow the lenders to loosen up requirements just enough for families that are unable to qualify for a mortgage program and lose their home to foreclosure to get into a more advantageous mortgage.
And while Washington stews coming up with legislation to fix the market, the market fixes itself. What a surprise…
“People with an adjustable-rate line of credit on their homes — or anything that’s tied to prime rates — will almost instantly get half a percent lower” on their monthly bills, said Rich Bira, branch manager for First Capital Mortgage in Chicago. If they were paying 8.75 percent Tuesday on a line of credit, next month it will come down to 8.25 percent, he said. “That’s instant relief.”
And, though it will take time, it could ripple through the rest of the system.
“Other indices [on which mortgage rates are based] are probably going to go down as a result,” said Donna Burge, president of Baird & Warner Financial Services in Chicago.
“The more important effect on consumers is that [the cuts] will lower costs on credit cards, and that should spur spending,” she said. That would help the economy, including housing. via the chicagotribune.com.

Auction Network Coming To You Via Internet and Television

September 20th, 2007 —
This is an interesting concept. The Auction Network will be selling all sorts of items including homes on television and the internet starting in late October and rolling out through the next year. With America’s fascination with eBay and other auctions, this will be a great way to be a voyeur and participant in auctions across the country.
Financing is coming from Williams and Williams, one of the largest real estate auction houses in the country, so expect lots of real estate auctions to take place. And with it having a virtual reach, the auctions have the potential to be explosive.
This is definitely a concept to watch for.
Phase one will start Oct. 28 with streaming video at www.AuctionNetwork.tv. It will then beta test several interactive auctions from London to Las Vegas to Los Angeles, video on demand and gaming content, all towards building cable and satellite TV platforms it hopes to launch early next year.McKissick said the Auction Network will meet an untapped cable niche, allowing viewers to participate through the Web or by cell phone. By seamlessly combining live events, television, Internet and mobile platforms, she said it also will illustrate the future direction of broadcast television.“We will have a quarter of a million eyeballs at launch,” she said. “We will be ramping up to 1 million very quickly.”Since the Web site will be free to users, the company will draw revenue from traditional and interactive clickable ads, sponsorships, and two areas McKissick admitted are normally difficult to sell in entertainment show but fit in well with auctions: direct response ads and product placement. via The Journal Record

Orem Lady arrested for not watering her lawn!


You Better Water Your Lawn In Orem City, UT
September 20th, 2007 — Real Estate
Living in Utah we seem to be on perpetual water restrictions, but for 70 year old Betty Perry of Orem, she was arrested and thrown in jail for failing to keep her lawn watered. Showing cuts on her face the lady was arrested and plead innocent to the charges.
I would hate to see what happens to jay walkers in this town.
Betty Perry pleaded innocent Tuesday to charges she failed to water her lawn and resisted arrest when an officer attempted to cite her. Perry appeared in 4th District Court in Orem to enter her plea in a case prominent Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred described as a gross injustice. “Today, law enforcement in Orem has enshrined itself as the laughing stock of our country by prosecuting a 70-year-old great-grandmother for allegedly not watering her lawn,” Allred said. “This ill-conceived action ensures Orem’s law enforcement authorities first place in the [Guinness World Records] for stupidity.” via Salt Lake Tribune
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